Assigning values to static final variables in Java:
In Java, non-static final variables can be assigned a value either in constructor or with the declaration. But, static final variables cannot be assigned value in constructor; they must be assigned a value with their declaration.
For example, following program works fine.
Java
class Test { // i could be assigned a value here // or constructor or init block also. final int i; Test() { i = 10; } // other stuff in the class} |
If we make i as static final then we must assign value to i with the declaration.
Java
class Test { // Since i is static final, // it must be assigned value here // or inside static block . static final int i; static { i = 10; } // other stuff in the class} |
Such behavior is obvious as static variables are shared among all the objects of a class; creating a new object would change the same static variable which is not allowed if the static variable is final.
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